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Welcome To The
St. Francis County, Arkansas
Genealogical Homepage
Here are Biographies in entirety, plus Goodspeed for St.Francis County including from 1905 Biographies by Name
Here are some pictures from the St.Francis County Museum in Forrest City, can you name them? Just click on Grandpa Haven's Home to get to the pictures.
Pictures from the St.Francis County Museum
Here is a Bible Verse for the Day
A Link to the Shelby County Records, showing death, birth etc. of Memphis, older records online-Also the 1865 Census of Memphis-Lots of Us were born and died there, from Eastern Arkansas!
Shelby County Records-Birth/Death/1865 Census
New:Picture received recently of Captains Jesse Wynne, J.W.Dennis, and J.W.Beck, operators of firm Wynne, Dennis, & Beck in late 19th century in Forrest City. Courtesy of Wen Scherer. All but Jesse Wynne are buried in City Cemetery in Forrest City. City of Wynne named for Capt.Jesse Wynne.
Picture of Prof.Joseph Boone Sanders and his wife Lucy Clay Gwinn courtesy of Jean Meaney and Obit of Lucy Sanders-Judge Olmon Hargraves is a descendant of these fine people!

Obit from around 1910 from The Forrest City Times Newspaper-Thanks Brenda Huntley-"Meets Death In Runnaway". Just as the Times was going to press on last Thursday evening, news reached us to the effect that Bud Hill, a farmer on the Island farm near Old river, had met a tragic death in a runnaway accident at the Reilley Orchard crossing on the Rock Island rallway about two miles east of the city. Hill made a crop the past season with "Jim" New, and was enroute home from the city in his wagon where he had been to sell cotton and purchase supplies. At the point in the road mentioned above, the team Hill was driving took fright at a four-seated automobile. In his efforts to stop the animals, Hill broke one of the lines, at which juncture the unfortunate man was thrown out and under the wagon, the wheels passing over his body, breaking his collar bone and otherwise injuring him internally. The runaway team was captured about a mile from the scene of the accident by a man who brought it on back up the road where the injured man was found where he had fallen in the road. Hill was picked up and carried to a house nearby where he was attended by a physician, but his wounds were of such a serious nature as to place him beyond the reach of surgical or medical skill, and he died about 5:30 o'clock Hill made a statement just before he expired to the effect that "his team had been frightened by an automobile", but he could tell nothing that would lead to the identification of the chauffeur. Hill leaves a wife and two children to mourn their loss to whom The Times joins in sincere condolence and sympathy.

New Website Link-More Organized


To forget one's ancestors is to be a brook without a source, a tree without a root.

St. Francis County, Arkansas was created by The Arkansas Territorial Legislature on October 13, 1827 taking in part of Phillips County. Originally St. Francis County was larger than the 635 square miles presently contained within its boundaries. The county is bounded on the north by Crittenden County and Cross County, on the east by Crittenden, on the south by Lee County, and on the west by Monroe and Woodruff Counties. St. Francis County is divided into twelve townships; Garland, Heth, Griggs, Johnson, Telico, L'Anguille, Blackfish, Franks, Prairie, Goodwin, Madison, and Wheatley.

The St. Francis and L'Anguille Rivers cross the county from north to south dividing it into nearly three equal divisions. Crowley's Ridge runs nearly equidistance between the two rivers and has an average altitude of 300 feet above sea level. The seat of justice and the principal city is Forrest City located on Crowley's Ridge and in Madison Township. Forrest City is named for the Confederate Cavalry Officer, General Nathan Bedford Forrest. There are numerous smaller towns and villages, the most important of which are; Hughes, Widener, Madison, Palestine, Wheatley, Caldwell and Colt.

The site for the seat of justice was first located in the town of Franklin (Franklin no longer exists), originally named Cherokee Village when the area was Phillips County. The county seat remained at Franklin until 1841 when it was removed to the town of Madison. For a short period in the year 1855 the seat was moved to Mt. Vernon and returned to Madison where it remained until 1874. In 1874 the seat of justice became permanently located at Forrest City.

In the north part of the county is Colt.

An act of Congress in 1821 authorized the construction of the Historic Military Road from Memphis, Tennessee to Little Rock, Arkansas. This road followed a trail from the Mississippi River to the crossing at the St. Francis River at a point near the present line between Cross and St. Francis Counties and continuing on a course due west and nearly parallel with the county line following a course through Taylor's Creek, later named Colt, and continuing through L'Anguille Township and then on to Little Rock, Arkansas. This road proved to be important to the early settlement of St. Francis County.

The above information about St.Francis County was prepared by Loyd N. Sybert. The purpose of this page is to aid you in your search for St. Francis County residents. It is hoped that the information contained here will help you; to understand how and when the county boundries changed, to find the names of some of the prominent families, to use other sources of information, and how to contact others researching families that may be connected to your lines of research. If you would like to contribute your information to this page or if you would like to publish a page(s) for this County, please let me know.
contact Paul V.Isbell.

DISCLAIMER: The St. Francis County, Arkansas Homepage has no affiliation with any commercial enterprise. Copy of any material contained in this Homepage for any use other than research is strictly forbidden without prior written permission.
St.Francis County, Arkansas was created in 1827. See more in link below. Genealogy, Pictures and Other Historical Data for St.Francis County.

Arkansas Genealogical Links